NEWPORT (Shropshire): The King’s Head A maintained a useful early season lead in the Newport & District Pool League after securing a nervy 4-2 win over the Royal Navy Club at Chetwynd End.

Jamie James, Phil Emery and Irene Whittington put the home side into what should have been a comfortable 3-0 lead, but Ian Perry’s Carling Cup hangover cost Mick Collins’s side the fourth rack.

A woeful Perry was also on the losing side with James in the first of the doubles racks and it required some patient play at a nervous time by Whittington and Emery to seal all three points for the league leaders.

The Sutherland Arms at Tibberton did their frame difference no harm at all with a 6-0 win over Wheatsheaf B and remain in second position. “We were outplayed tonight,” admitted Wheatsheaf B’s Jack Jones.

Ben Clewes’s Shakespeare C side maintained their remarkable unbeaten run with a hard-earned 2-4 victory across Avenue Road at the Railway Tavern.

The win ensured that they stayed a point clear of the pursuing NRBL, who trounced lowly King’s Head B, 5-1. Antony Heathcote and Mick Beech put the home side into a 2-0 lead, although Tash Pugh nearly pulled off a shock frame win over Colin Pink.

That honour fell to Lyn Day - the beaten 2010 Fusion Newport Ladies’ Open finalist won rack four to give the bottom side a lifeline. “I always like playing here after beating Paul Trevor twice before,” quipped a delighted Day. Pink and Colin Farge made sure of the three points for the home side in rack five and Beech and Heathcote sealed a comfortable NRBL win.

Hyla Marklew’s Junction A continued their climb away from mid-table mediocrity with a 5-1 victory over Shakespeare B at Norbury. But there was better fortune for the Shakespeare A side with Andy Potter reporting a 6-0 rout for the home team against Junction B.

The high-spirited Wheatsheaf A decided to update the travelling pool championship promoter with the result of every frame against the Navigation in a bid to send his telephone roaming charges into orbit.

The Gnosall side stormed into a 0-2 lead before being pegged back to 2-2 by Sarah Smallman Murase’s ‘dirty half-dozen’. The home side somehow slithered into a 3-2 lead and sealed the match in the final frame with Ian Trevor and Paul Skitt cart-wheeling into the car park at the finish.

The Plough at Woodseaves recorded their first draw of the season against a fading LSC at the Tav, with support already gathering strength for the reinstatement of Dave Price as LSC skipper following the away side’s fall to seventh in the league. “We were a nightmare tonight,” said Ben Longstaff. “We were not fit to wear the shirt.”

Results should be sent as soon as possible after matches on Wednesday evenings to 07831 123153.